The Rural Enterprise Development Grant program ended in September, 2017. There are no grants currently available.

The Workforce Board was awarded an $80,000, one-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to survey agricultural-related firms in 10 rural Washington counties. The grant runs through the fall of 2017.

Agricultural firms are being asked whether they have access to sufficient educational resources for their employees, and what types of skills training and classes they would like to see offered in their area.

Compiling, creating course offerings

The grant also provides funding to Highline College's Center of Excellence for Global Trade and Supply Chain Management. Highline staff will work with Walla Walla Community College's Center of Excellence for Agriculture to identify available courses in each of the 10 counties, including online options. The colleges will compile areas where courses are not available and create online courses to fill the need.

At the same time, available courses are being compiled and will be placed on a single webpage for agricultural-related firms to easily access.

Agriculture-related companies--Take this survey and let us know about your education and training needs!

The grant also provides funding to Impact Washington, a nonprofit that works with Washington manufacturers through supply chain consulting and lean training. Impact Washington will continue a project begun under another federal grant to build an asset map of existing Washington manufacturers.

Online Courses for Rural Manufacturers

View a suite of courses that meet the needs of rural manufacturers across Washington's agriculture industry sector. These classes have a clear application for business and employees, and range from base manufacturing to more advanced applications.